Artson Engineering - 40.00

Established in 1978, Artson Engineering Ltd (AEL) is basically engaged in business of manufacturing tanks and terminals for refineries and petroleum companies. It is one of the foremost companies in the country, specializing in petroleum storage and handling systems. AEL has the capabilities in multi disciplinary construction for the hydrocarbon process industry and primarily caters to oil & gas, power & energy, food processing industry etc. Apart from taking EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contracts, it also offers construction services in mechanical, civil, electrical and instrumentation field. AEL can boast of successfully commissioning hundreds of projects on the turnkey basis in India as well overseas. Few of AEL`s esteemed clients are IOC, HPCL, IPCL, GAIL, Lubrizol, L&T, Reliance Ind, Alfa Laval, BARC, Cadbury etc. It has also supplied equipments related to power projects to reputed clients like BHEL, NTPC, MSEB, Uri Civil, Enercon, Siemens, ABB, Alstom etc. Interestingly, company also has a manufacturing unit, located at Nasik, Maharashtra which has the capability to manufacture heat exchangers, finfan coolers, pressure vessels, LPG bottling plant equipments, bullets and other chemicals process equipments.

However, currently AEL is a BIFR company. Few years back due to failure of Essar Refinery-Jamnagar, company lost nearly 17 cr and was declared sick. Since then it is operating at reduced capacity due to non-availability of bank guarantees and other funding facilities. A number of tenders received by the company could not be taken advantage in view of financial constraints. The company, which use to execute more than 150 cr orders, reported only 14 cr revenue for FY06. But now its debt restructuring scheme has been approved by BIFR under which the 22 crore debt (out of 40 cr) has been waived off by the lenders. The remaining debt of Rs 18 crore has to be paid off in some 5 years without any interest on the same. More importantly, Tata Projects - a part of Tata group will soon be acquiring a controlling stake in the company by infusing fresh capital. Apart from having a healthy order book position or more than 40 cr, AEL along with Tata Project has bid for around 300 cr contract in India and UAE combined. To conclude, company is poised for a strong turnaround once Tata Project takes the command.

For the year ending Sept 2006, AEL reported total revenue of 14 cr and net loss of 1.40 cr. It made an operating loss to the tune of 1 cr. However for six months ending March 2007, it has already made a smart turnaround by reporting operating profit of 3.50 cr on total revenue of 18.40 cr. Hence it clocked a healthy OPM of 19%. As no interest is to be paid, its NP stood at 3.10 cr. Accordingly, it is expected to end FY07 (Sept ending) with a topline of 40 cr and profit of 5.50 cr i.e. EPS of 6 Rs on equity of 9.20 cr. Due With the brand advantage of Tata group, good funds flow and its own technological capability it can earn a profit of 11.50 cr on revenue of 75 cr which means EPS of 12 Rs for FY08. Long term investors are strongly recommended to buy at current levels as this scrip can double in a year’s time.

Mazda Ltd - 71.00

Established in 1977, Mazda Ltd (Mazda) erstwhile Mazda Controls Ltd was founded by Mr. Sorab R. Mody with a small unit to manufacture automated valve packages. Today, it’s among the few engineering companies in the world, manufacturing very specialized, high technology and critical equipments for various industries like power, refineries, fertilizers, chemicals, nuclear, sugar, paper, food, pharma etc. Broadly its product profile can be segmented into Vacuum system, Valve division, Air pollution control equipment, Crystallizers and Evaporators. Hence its product range includes various types of vacuum jet ejectors, turbine bypass valve, desuperheaters, condensers, pressure reducing stations, pneumatic actuators, steam jet thermo compressors, process control equipments, scrubbers etc. In India, its products are installed at plants of Reliance group, United Phosphorus, IOC, BHEL, Alstom, Cadila, Grasim, GSFC, HPCL, Siemens, Triveni Engineering, GHCL, NRC, L&T, Nuclear Power Corp etc. Besides engineering, it also has a Biotechnology division dealing in carbohydrates, rare sugars and miscellaneous bio-chemicals. Recently, company has diversified into business of manufacturing food and drink concentrates in a small scale.

Mazda has two manufacturing facilities located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. For vacuum systems and air pollution control equipment, it has a technical collaboration with market leaders Croll-Reynolds Inc. USA, who also holds 12% stake in the company. Accordingly, the designing and engineering is done jointly by them, whereas manufacturing of equipment is done by Mazda and marketing is done by Croll across the globe. Mazda also has the collaboration with Germany-based Kauer Engineering for manufacturing various types of valve. Importantly, Mazda has the coveted ASME 'U' stamp accreditation certificate from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) which very few Indian engineering companies can boast off. Hence, company can fabricate pressure vessels and heat exchangers confirming to ASME standards and are authorized to stamp them as 'coded Vessels'. In future company intends to increase its export substantially with having Siemens, Alfa Laval, APV Asia Pte, BASF, Petronnas, Bachtel, Colgate Palmolive, European Space Agency, IDE Technologies Ltd, Ministry of Oil & Gas Industry Turkmenistan etc as its international clients. It is also expecting some good order from German firm for supply of fabricated valves for gas pipeline in Europe.

Due to increased business and unavailability of space in its two existing units, Mazda is setting up third manufacturing unit with an investment of approximately 5 to 6 crores. It is well poised to harness the growth opportunities and is continuously upgrading its manufacturing facilities, technology, production processes and its marketing reach to maintain its growth in future. For FY07 it recorded 40% growth in sales as well as NP to 53 cr and 5 cr respectively. Hence, it reported an EPS of 12 Rs on small equity of 4.25 cr. Earlier company had split the face value to 2/- Rs per share but last year it again consolidated to 10/- Rs. For FY08 it is estimated to report sales of 65 cr and profit of 6.25 cr which means EPS of 15 Rs. Therefore the scrip is trading at a P/E ratio of less than 5x times which is extremely low considering its expertise and future prospect. Investors are strongly recommended to buy as scrip can touch 120 levels (70% returns) in 12 months or so.

STOCK WATCH

Inspite of strong March nos, share price of Uttam Galva (33.00) is lying low. It is the second largest manufacture of cold rolled and galvanized products like coils, plain sheets, corrugated sheets, CRCA and colour coated steel. It exports to 128 countries worldwide including developed nations such as USA, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany etc to name a few. It is undergoing massive expansion estimated to complete by August this year which will take its cold rolling capacity to 10,00,000 MTPA and galvanizing to 7,00,000 MTPA. Couple of month back it raised 85 cr thru GDR @ 40 Rs per equity share. For FY07 it clocked a turnover of 2567 cr and PAT of 101 cr ie EPS of 10 Rs on equity of 105 cr. With steel prices remaining stable and expansion effect kicking in from August, it may end FY08 with total sales of 3500 cr and profit of 125 cr. Earlier company had raised approx 200 cr thru FCCB which is yet to be converted into equity shares. Although the conversion price is Rs 64.50 per share we assume it to be finally converted into 44/- Rs per share. Hence after conversion we estimate fully diluted to be nearly 150.00 cr. Accordingly FY08 EPS works out 8 Rs. Hence investors can buy with a price target of 48 Rs in 6~9 months.

Indo Asian Fusegears (135.00) is engaged in manufacturing of all types of LT switchgears, miniature circuit breakers, compact fluorescent lights and other allied electrical engineering goods. Apart from six manufacturing facility, it has recently put up three more units in tax free area of Haridwar- Uttaranchal, all of which have begun commercial production. Importantly company has entered into various foreign tie-ups for manufacturing as well as marketing state of the art modern style lighting equipments, fittings & accessories, home automation products, wiring accessories etc in India. It may report Sales and NP of 210 cr and 17 cr for FY07, which is expected to shoot up to 325 cr and 27 cr for FY08. This translates into EPS of 11 Rs and 18 Rs respectively on diluted equity of 15.05 cr. Hence at a reasonable discounting by 12x times scrip has the potential to touch 220/- Rs in medium term

Besides Indian hotel and EIH, Panoramic Universal (115.00) is the only company in India which owns and operates five hotels in USA and a small motel in New Zealand. Here in India, it has three hotels at Shirdi, Goa and Malvan each. Moreover it also owns “Pancard Club Hotel and Resort in Baner Hills along with ‘Area 51’, a large entertainment lounge in Pune. Company is now constructing two 3 star hotel cum club, one each at Thane and Durgapur. Further it intends to develop three 5 star hotels of 250-300 rooms each in Pune, Kerala and Goa. Above all it has very aggressive plans to grow inorganically. In near future, company may undergo some restructuring as management wants to consolidate its group companies into one. On a consolidated basis, for FY07 it has clocked a turnover of 132 cr and NP of 33 cr ie EPS of 26 Rs on small equity of 6.50 cr having 5/- Rs face value. Which means stock is trading at P/E ratio of less than 5x times. Considering the recent rupee appreciation, scrip has fallen sharply. For FY08 it can register 30 Rs EPS. However, high debt equity ratio with total debt of around 120 cr is cause of concern but at the same time promoter holding of 74% give some comfort level.

Couple of days back Kulkarni Power Tools (88.00) came out with decent set of nos for the March quarter. It recorded 25% growth for both sales as well as PBT to 12.50 cr and 1.20 cr respectively. However, due to higher tax and VRS provisioning its NP declined by 10% to 0.65 cr. But on a full year basis its sales improved by 15% to 44 cr and NP increased by 25% to 2.35 cr. This is inspite of higher deferred tax provisioning to the tune of 1.50 cr and VRS expense of 0.26 cr. Still it reported an EPS of 14 Rs on a tiny equity of 1.70 cr and declared 30% dividend for FY07. Company is a leader in the design, engineering, manufacturing and marketing of power tools like drills, grinder, hammers, cutters, polishers etc for construction and various other industrial activities. Notably, with its “POWERMASTER” brand, it has developed strong customer alliances with some of the largest retailers and most important brand names in the world. For FY08 it can register a topline of 50 cr and bottomline of 4 cr ie EPS of 24 Rs. Consdering the 52week H/L as 173/76 Rs it’s a good bet at CMP.